Hey Seabee, what is the doohicky in your double barrel that has the yellow switches?

Believe it or not, like the train transformer, it's another throwback from my model railroading days. It's just a simple track switch controller. bout 3 bucks in any RR hobby store. there are just three switches on a board. I use two of them, one for each fan. works like a charm.

__________________North Saint Paul Brewshack

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmendez29

Mom was right. Never argue with an idiot. They just drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

what would work great for this is an old cell phone or mobile something charger or any other wall socket transformer (found on some lamps, clocks, chargers, ALOT of things) Just cut off the adapter at the end so you have bare wires. alternatively you could just rip out the power supply from the back of an old pc and just hook that straight into the fan, seeing that the fan and power supply were actually made to work together. what is also useful is a fan controller unit. they sell them pretty cheap at computer mod places, I have 2 inside my compy for slowing down fans so their not too loud. the control range you can get on them is pretty good.

I know this thread is old, but this whole thing got me thinking. Could you use an old computer powersupply and hook it up to an controllable computer fan? Or just hook a fan up to your computer and use that? That may be a really cheap method as most everyone has a computer... Just a thought.

I know this thread is old, but this whole thing got me thinking. Could you use an old computer powersupply and hook it up to an controllable computer fan? Or just hook a fan up to your computer and use that? That may be a really cheap method as most everyone has a computer... Just a thought.

Sure you could use a power supply... it just transforms the voltage from ac to dc and a rheostat will control the fan speed. That speed control is the important part.

good luck

__________________North Saint Paul Brewshack

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmendez29

Mom was right. Never argue with an idiot. They just drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

So I am new to all of this and have to ask the NOOB question! What are you using the stir plate for? I work in a Bio-Medical Science Building and see lots of these devices made for the "Labbies" here.

If it is something I can make use of, I know I can get one or two as surplus cause many of the labs are re-locating to another building and they have loads of stuff they are not moving.

Thanks for any info.

Salute!

We use the stir plate for culturing yeast to ferment the beer. Some people need large cultures for the style and type of beer they brew, or like me, I re-use the yeast I brew with by washing it, and then storing smaller amounts for later use. If I'm going to brew on Saturday, I'll begin a starter on Wednesday or Thursday depending on how much yeast I need to pitch. The stir plate helps keep oxygen in the solution so the yeast are at the height of viability when it comes to pitching time. I also enjoy knowing that I've got the right abount of yeast to do the job... not too little, not too much.

Function before beauty, what's a pretty stir plate box if the unit doesn't work properly. Details can follow later if a box is needed. A lot better than throwing big money at a lab stir plate unless you got it cheap, I never could. Oh by the way that Mr. Malty Pitching Calculator is in my file and a great tool to use, thanks for posting it.

I havent read every post here but I made a stir plate in the DIY fashion. The magnets I used were kidney shaped ones out of a Hard drive. Very powerful. I found that putting 1 magnet in the center of the fan worked but I have yet to get it working with 2 magnets. Just an FYI for anyone having trouble. Also I use a very small stir bar, about 1/2". It can make a funnel in 2l of water though.